Vikings

[Guamsst]

Fred, I am wondering where the series will actually go. Because they are trying to be subtle in showing advances....sort of. I think they may upgrade to actual ships instead of just longboats. I believe when they get ready to really go west and explore unknown lands the boat will be upgraded as Loki's great new invention.

The 13th warrior was great as long as you understand it is a bastardization of Ibn Fadlans report on vikings, the viking sagas and an idea about Neanderthals surviving until the viking age. The book Eaters of the Dead is GREAT. Much better than the movie, but the movie was still one of my favorites if only for entertainment.

[p246]

Not a big vikinging historian but I enjoy the show.

[Art]

Fred, I am wondering where the series will actually go. Because they are trying to be subtle in showing advances....sort of. I think they may upgrade to actual ships instead of just longboats. I believe when they get ready to really go west and explore unknown lands the boat will be upgraded as Loki's great new invention.

The 13th warrior was great as long as you understand it is a bastardization of Ibn Fadlans report on vikings, the viking sagas and an idea about Neanderthals surviving until the viking age. The book Eaters of the Dead is GREAT. Much better than the movie, but the movie was still one of my favorites if only for entertainment.

I think I have a pretty good idea of where it's going because I sort of know what was supposed to have happened to Ragnar, and because they've already given a hint of that part. We'll see though.

[Fred]

Fred, I am wondering where the series will actually go. Because they are trying to be subtle in showing advances....sort of. I think they may upgrade to actual ships instead of just longboats. I believe when they get ready to really go west and explore unknown lands the boat will be upgraded as Loki's great new invention.

Interesting that you should mention that. The breakthrough in Viking ship building was the creation of a special Keel that locked everything together stronger than the previous designs. That's when the ships became truly seaworthy and bigger. The date of the series as being in the last half of the 8th Century is when this happened and is when the Vikings had just started to implement Coastal Raiding. It seems that only the elder brother of a family could inherit land and that left the younger brothers with nothing. Land became scarcer as the Norse tribes grew larger. That's when the Norse men who had no chance of inheriting their fathers farms decided to "viking" (to travel for adventure or to participate in an adventure or quest) for their fortunes. Woe be unto the townspeople who lived near the coasts then. The Norse raids ventured out further and further and Norse tradesmen brought back wonderful things from distant lands. I've some of a Viking Hoard that was found in Sweeden years ago in the 1950's. Among the items are large silver coins (about the size of Silver Dollars) cast exclusively for the Vikings who would take them back home to sell or trade them to their people and other Europeans who used them for casting into silver objects of whatever they wanted at the time. The coins have Arabic script on them. Some other items in the Hoard are perfectly preserved clothing fasteners made of long silver pins with intricately constructed laceworks of silver spheres on one end. These were made in Constantinople for the Vikings to make trades for. It's profound to think that the craftsman who made them has been dust in the earth for a thousand years now. They might've traded slaves for such items as well as other things that they would pick up along the way from other places. I've some Viking "Fibula" as well made of Bronze. These are similar to Roman Fibula (which I also have a lot of) that were used to fasten clothing, except that they are designed like Celtic torques. I've a large Viking made bronze ring that was found in England. It fits my left ring finger perfectly. It's known as a Point And Oval. It has Norse Runes on the face of it. I've a large thick bronze Viking arm band too. Half of it is twisted to represent the roots of a tree and the other half is solid like a trunk. It was found in a spring where it'd been thrown as an offering to some diety. Another bracelet is a thin silver type that was too delicate for a man and was no doubt meant for a woman. I'll take some photo's tomorrow and post them on here for you guys to look at if you'd like.

[Guamsst]

I think I have a pretty good idea of where it's going because I sort of know what was supposed to have happened to Ragnar, and because they've already given a hint of that part. We'll see though.

Well.....LOL I guess you got me there. I just meant I am not sure what their long term plan is for the show. I assume they will follow the story of Ragnar but will it become focused on the exploration to the west with a branching out of more main charachters, stick strictly to his story, or turn into a full fledged soap opera running amok all over history?

[Art]

Well.....LOL I guess you got me there. I just meant I am not sure what their long term plan is for the show. I assume they will follow the story of Ragnar but will it become focused on the exploration to the west with a branching out of more main charachters, stick strictly to his story, or turn into a full fledged soap opera running amok all over history?

Right now I'm enjoying it so I hope it keeps rolling along for a while. I especially liked seeing that little chubby toady of the Earl's get his. There is a time to say "Hail Ragnar" instead of "kill him!!"

[Guamsst]

Right now I'm enjoying it so I hope it keeps rolling along for a while. I especially liked seeing that little chubby toady of the Earl's get his. There is a time to say "Hail Ragnar" instead of "kill him!!"

Thanks for ruining it.....LOL I missed the most recent episode. Glad the dwarf king got his though....LOL

[Fred]

Interesting that you should mention that. The breakthrough in Viking ship building was the creation of a special Keel that locked everything together stronger than the previous designs. That's when the ships became truly seaworthy and bigger. The date of the series as being in the last half of the 8th Century is when this happened and is when the Vikings had just started to implement Coastal Raiding. It seems that only the elder brother of a family could inherit land and that left the younger brothers with nothing. Land became scarcer as the Norse tribes grew larger. That's when the Norse men who had no chance of inheriting their fathers farms decided to "viking" (to travel for adventure or to participate in an adventure or quest) for their fortunes. Woe be unto the townspeople who lived near the coasts then. The Norse raids ventured out further and further and Norse tradesmen brought back wonderful things from distant lands. I've some of a Viking Hoard that was found in Sweeden years ago in the 1950's. Among the items are large silver coins (about the size of Silver Dollars) cast exclusively for the Vikings who would take them back home to sell or trade them to their people and other Europeans who used them for casting into silver objects of whatever they wanted at the time. The coins have Arabic script on them. Some other items in the Hoard are perfectly preserved clothing fasteners made of long silver pins with intricately constructed laceworks of silver spheres on one end. These were made in Constantinople for the Vikings to make trades for. It's profound to think that the craftsman who made them has been dust in the earth for a thousand years now. They might've traded slaves for such items as well as other things that they would pick up along the way from other places. I've some Viking "Fibula" as well made of Bronze. These are similar to Roman Fibula (which I also have a lot of) that were used to fasten clothing, except that they are designed like Celtic torques. I've a large Viking made bronze ring that was found in England. It fits my left ring finger perfectly. It's known as a Point And Oval. It has Norse Runes on the face of it. I've a large thick bronze Viking arm band too. Half of it is twisted to represent the roots of a tree and the other half is solid like a trunk. It was found in a spring where it'd been thrown as an offering to some diety. Another bracelet is a thin silver type that was too delicate for a man and was no doubt meant for a woman. I'll take some photo's tomorrow and post them on here for you guys to look at if you'd like.

My wife placed the box of stuff somewhere that I spoke of and cannot remember where or even if she was the one who had it last. She was. I'll locate it though. Neat historical stuff for show and tell.